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00:00It's spirit, it's energy, it's respect, it's honor, all wrapped up into one.
00:06This is from my ancestors.
00:10The undisputed champion of NEVER, Henare!
00:17The proud warrior of the Maoris,
00:22has finally obtained his mana!
00:27Just straight up, just fighting.
00:29NEVER Openweight Championship captures that more than any other title.
00:33NEVER has more mana than IWGP.
00:39Maybe, I might die.
00:43But I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna keep fighting.
00:47Only here, only at NEVER,
00:51you will understand!
00:55If it's like this, I won't keep quiet.
00:58Henare!
00:59I'll be your next opponent.
01:03The challenger, Shingo Takagi!
01:07My neck hurts, my arms hurt, my back hurts, my knees hurt.
01:11This is a real pro-wrestling match.
01:15The 41-year-old, who has the spirit of Yamato in his heart.
01:21This is his 20th year as a pro-wrestler.
01:25I'm not hungry at all.
01:28The spirit of Yamato, if it's with you...
01:33He's a former NEVER champion,
01:36but he lost to Henare in his second title match.
01:41But...
01:43Henare, you were strong. Let's do this again.
01:48That's right, this isn't over.
01:51NEVER!
01:53In the end, it's a battle of will and guts.
01:56It's a clash of souls.
01:59Henare, I'm going to crush your spirit.
02:04The spirit of Yamato, the spirit of Yamato,
02:08I am the meaning of love.
02:11Now, let's put your spirit on the line
02:15and go to NEVER!
02:19The NEVER Pro-Wrestling Championship,
02:22Takagi vs. Henare!
02:53Takagi vs. Henare
03:16Over a distinguished 20-year career,
03:19Shingo Takagi has carried a lot of labels,
03:22and yes, he's the dragon.
03:24At times, the very best in the world.
03:29But I think the most appropriate
03:32of four times a champion,
03:34eight defenses, 443 days,
03:38Shingo Takagi has been known as the baddest M-ever
03:42in professional wrestling.
03:45And now he seeks to take that gold back, Walker,
03:48from the man he lost it to in Henare.
04:18Takagi vs. Shingo Takagi
04:31It was 83 days ago when Shingo Takagi lost
04:34the NEVER Openweight Championship.
04:37And those are all days that Shingo Takagi has been counting
04:40like tally marks on a prison wall
04:43awaiting tonight's match.
04:48Let's go!
05:19Takagi vs. Henare
05:25Two warring tribes,
05:27distinct nations.
05:30So many differences and so many similarities
05:32all the way up and down can be described
05:34between the rampage dragon Shingo Takagi
05:36and this man, the NEVER Openweight Champion Henare.
05:39But there is one place and one place only
05:41that Henare and Takagi have been able to find common ground
05:44not only in professional wrestling, but in life itself.
05:46And that happens in the middle of the Cerulean Blue.
05:49And it's all about what unfolds
05:51and has continued to unfold
05:53throughout the careers of these men
05:55inside that ring.
05:57And whether you call it Yamato Tamashii,
05:59whether you consider it Mana,
06:01it is all the same in spirit.
06:04And that is spirit that Henare has shown time and time again.
06:08He has drove some.
06:09But to prove, hey, that draw back at Dominion
06:12was not a fluke.
06:14Hey, that victory back in the Soul Series
06:16where I became champion, that wasn't a fluke.
06:19Earn a defense over the former champion.
06:22Put Shingo Takagi to rest for good.
06:25That is the goal of Henare,
06:27your current reigning and defending NEVER Openweight Champion.
06:32You see that arm trap, headbutt, the uenuku.
06:35The blue corner, the 45th NEVER Champion
06:39of the United Empire,
06:41the face of beauty,
06:43Henare!
06:46The uenuku clinched him his first championship
06:50in New Japan Pro Wrestling,
06:52a move that literally means
06:54to pierce through to a level above.
06:56He used it to shatter a glass ceiling.
06:59And now we'll see if he can use it
07:01to take down the dragon tonight.
07:03And you know, Chris, glass ceilings have been
07:06all throughout the career of Henare in professional wrestling
07:08and his personal life itself.
07:10And he's told me before,
07:12it's something he's had to deal with culturally
07:14and his Maori heritage.
07:16I mean, it's something that people of that descent
07:19have faced adversity in the past.
07:22And by God, that's adversity staring Henare
07:25eye to eye in the ring right now.
07:27No doubt about it.
07:28I think that is adversity personified
07:31in Shingo Takagi.
07:32Someone who would not back down,
07:33not with a champion, here we go.
07:35Yeah, we're already getting started here tonight.
07:37And this could go five minutes,
07:3935 minutes for all we know.
07:41These two men will strike the hell out of one another
07:44and we're already seeing it come to blows.
07:46Well, let's not forget what happened in June,
07:49Dominion in Osaka-Jo Hall.
07:51They knocked one another out.
07:52A double KO was the result.
07:57And a key factor here, I think, Walker,
07:59in this one, Shingo Takagi.
08:02Ooh, this is de facto home turf for him.
08:05Grew up with Kobe World Hall
08:08in this business, in Dragon Gate,
08:10being his Tokyo Dome,
08:13being his time to shine.
08:1433-7-2 in singles matches in Shingo Takagi.
08:19One incredible record right here in the town of Kobe.
08:23While we're talking numbers, 3-2-1 record,
08:26that edge going to Henare
08:28in singles competition between these two men.
08:30Look out, look out, look out.
08:31Shingo back the other way
08:33and wrapped into the steel.
08:36The last time that Henare and Shingo faced off in Sapporo
08:39when Henare won that Never Openweight title,
08:41they were at a completely even record at 2-2-1.
08:45And now Henare has that advantage.
08:47Does that play into either man's mental game?
08:49Yeah, I think it plays hugely into the mental game of Henare.
08:52Not just to become a champion,
08:54but to keep that title against Hiromi Takahashi.
08:57It feels, ooh man, it feels weird to say it,
09:00but a lot of people had Henare as the underdog
09:02against Hiromi Takahashi.
09:04Because the momentum Hiromi possessed,
09:06Henare able to turn that away,
09:08overcome that first title defense hump,
09:10it was huge for the champ.
09:12And now, once again, United Empire versus LIJ,
09:14second time tonight.
09:16We're going to cap off our main event
09:17for the World Heavyweight title,
09:18Great-O-Khan Tetsuya Naito in the exact same fashion.
09:21And another big number for your 4,528 fans here in this building,
09:26the biggest crowd we've had in Kobe World Hall in five years.
09:30And a lot of that to see Shingo Takagi
09:32become Never Openweight Champion again perhaps.
09:36Watch out, here is Saito.
09:38Beautiful senton from Henare.
09:41Cover here for the Never Openweight Champion,
09:43and it is two.
09:48A victory here for Henare will do incredible things
09:50for the mental game,
09:51as if the first victory didn't do enough.
09:54Henare's been talking big all throughout the locker rooms.
09:57Hey, I am the Never Openweight Champion,
09:58you're going to recognize that.
09:59Well, Chris Charlton,
10:00might be time for Shingo Takagi to recognize that.
10:03Yeah, that's true.
10:04I mean, Henare, of course, rightfully so,
10:07very proud of his accomplishments.
10:10And he'll tell you about how tough he is.
10:13I mean, you've got no choice but to believe it.
10:19A submission attempt here from Henare.
10:24The left leg of Shingo Takagi hooked by his own,
10:27and of course we are talking about that clutch on the top.
10:30Shingo right to that bottom rope,
10:31and Henare going to break it up.
10:34First ever singles meeting, October 7th, 2019.
10:38A very different Toa Henare to the man who stands
10:40in front of us here today.
10:42Yeah, and wiped out in that night,
10:44I believe it was a pumping bomber,
10:46in the end not even made in Japan.
10:48And that was a loss that drove Henare
10:52in a long form out of Pontai into United Empire.
10:57Oh.
11:01Shingo saying that one didn't hurt, it did.
11:05And that certainly did hurt an awful lot more.
11:09It's been a struggle for Henare over the past few years
11:11to establish a sense of self,
11:13to find that identity that we see in front of us here.
11:16But so much of this identity rooted
11:19in the Never Openweight title.
11:21That's just, I mean, that's why he's in this business
11:24in the first place.
11:25Bam, big left.
11:27You know, he's talked about it before,
11:29could have wrestled elsewhere.
11:30It was coming into the Tokyo Dome for the first time,
11:34first match he saw live,
11:36Togi Makabe and Tomohiro Ishii,
11:38and said, well, hey, I want to do that.
11:46For Henare, this Never Openweight Championship
11:49is his IWGP World Heavyweight title.
11:51No doubt about it, says that championship
11:54holds a lot more mana than ever does
11:57than the World Heavyweight Championship.
11:59I'm sure Henare believes any championship
12:01he gets his hands on is the one that holds the most mana
12:03in NJPW.
12:04That's true.
12:07And Jinichiro, Tenryu, combination in the corner.
12:12And Henare gonna unleash something a little bit different,
12:14not Tenryu style, but it's gonna be just as effective.
12:18Now he saw a combination in the corner,
12:20here we go, he's thinking, big lariat.
12:25Tenryu.
12:31Still through it, although,
12:33Shingo having a little bit more momentum on his side,
12:35able to drive the champion down here.
12:40Now it's up, it's down, high angle
12:43from Shingo Takagi, hook of the inner leg
12:46for the challenger, and it's two.
12:50Oh, is it?
12:52621 is his time on the way.
13:17Go ahead of Steve.
13:18Oh, sliding in, and Henare
13:21caught that one from Shingo.
13:26Usain Oh, if Henare matches a go,
13:28could have done that exact same thing.
13:30Well, he's done it here tonight.
13:32Shingo.
13:34Berserker.
13:36Cover here for Henare, and it's two.
13:41It's out of nowhere shots like that
13:43that have really personified
13:44the Never Openweight Championship
13:45in the Never division,
13:46and by God, Henare's pulling him out.
13:49His offense hits like a truck, Berserker.
13:54And that's taken the stuffing right out
13:57of Shingo Takagi, and look at the poise, Walker,
14:00the poise that Henare has.
14:02This is the big match experience,
14:04the confidence that comes with being the champion.
14:07And the hacker in the corner.
14:10Oh, what a rampage.
14:13Instead, it is a dangerous driver Takagi.
14:19And Henare does not go down.
14:23Notoriously hard hit.
14:26DDT.
14:29That time.
14:33That drilled him.
14:36We talked about many times
14:38how the thickness of the skull of Henare
14:41is what saved his life
14:44in Osaka in February.
14:46It's the only reason he lives long enough
14:48to see the Never Openweight title, Chris.
14:50That time still, though, he's seeing stars
14:52thanks to a challenger here tonight.
14:55Going up top.
14:56We're taking this one to the top now tonight, folks.
15:00Shingo Takagi.
15:01Elbow strikes, fist strikes.
15:04Whatever can keep Henare incapacitated for the time.
15:09Oh, man.
15:12And again from the front, the top
15:14and now the back of the head smashed hard.
15:21Shockwaves all the way down the spine.
15:23It's the same M.O.
15:24We've seen it before.
15:25Sliding bomber and Henare.
15:33The knee strike from Henare flattens down Shingo Takagi.
15:36Flush right on the point of the jaw
15:38was Henare's knee.
15:41I saw Shingo just now.
15:42He grabbed at his jaw
15:43and looked as if there might have been blood coming out.
15:45And I can't see any from this point of view.
15:47But that's how hard Henare just rocked Shingo.
15:50Could have done.
15:51Could have knocked a couple of teeth loose.
15:54Could have cracked that jaw as well.
16:01And now Henare.
16:04Now whose head is stronger?
16:07Whose skull is thicker?
16:09I hate this.
16:10I hate it.
16:11And I love it.
16:12Whose will is greater?
16:34Come on.
16:36Come on.
16:37Shoot.
16:49Shoot.
16:59Shoot.
17:01Oh.
17:02That one might have been the turn-maker.
17:05Yeah.
17:06Yeah.
17:07Shingo's starting to fade here.
17:08Yeah.
17:09And Henare
17:10with the hammerhead shark
17:12part
17:13of that Mataura tattoo.
17:16Looking like he senses blood in the water, Walker.
17:21The point of turn.
17:22We see it in full.
17:24Mowdy drop.
17:26Mowdy drop.
17:28That damage done earlier on on the neck
17:30for that superplex.
17:38If he'd have covered
17:39I think you'd be looking at a long 2 or a 3.
17:44You think maybe
17:45I think that might be
17:47indicative of nerve damage down the arm.
17:50Potentially so.
17:52Toe bottom.
17:53Bottom cover here for Henare
17:55and it's 2.
17:57Not all on that cover either.
18:03Set at the beginning of this match, folks.
18:05This one could go 5, it could go 35,
18:07and it could go
18:08we have up to a 60 minute time limit
18:09to whatever open weight title.
18:15You are feeling every single second
18:175 times over when you're inside that ring.
18:23Henare could be wanting ultimate here.
18:25Nelson could have to weaken Shingo down
18:27a little bit more for that shot
18:29and hooks it in from behind.
18:30Here's Ultima.
18:31Nice, got that all the way in.
18:32That liver shot.
18:35Really giving Henare enough space
18:38to lock in those fingers.
18:50Shingo.
18:52I don't think he's going to have any luck
18:53walking in Aoi to the ropes.
18:54Might have to try and force
18:56some way of breaking that grip.
18:58Try and bring his hands together.
19:03He's fading fast here, Walker.
19:05There is not much redeemable
19:07for Shingo Takagi right here.
19:09Not in this position in Henare.
19:11I mean, it's a slow burn
19:13but it's very effective right now.
19:15And how embarrassed would Shingo Takagi
19:17feel to fall tonight in Kobe World Hall?
19:21Certainly de facto home crowd
19:23but this is a hold, Walker,
19:24that can very, very easily break your neck.
19:27You talked about nerve damage earlier on.
19:29Good God, Chris.
19:30Look at what we see.
19:31Oh, nice, nice.
19:32Going to escape.
19:33Shingo!
19:36Desperation with the Maiden Japan.
19:38Beautiful.
19:46Out of nowhere with Maiden Japan.
19:50Hey!
19:51Hey!
19:52Ever since forbidden door, Chris Charlton.
19:56A little homage to your current
19:58AEW World Champion, Bryan Danielson.
20:02Oh!
20:03And Danielson couldn't pull that shot out
20:05on his best day in Shingo Takagi.
20:09Right again.
20:11Second time this matchup.
20:13That's a big, big impact to the back of the skull.
20:16That's the most dangerous spots get hit in.
20:21And now Shingo,
20:23like a conductor in an orchestra,
20:25bringing these fans behind him,
20:27but Hinare.
20:28It's a disastrous night for Shingo Takagi.
20:31Oh, is it?
20:32A big bomber!
20:36Here we go!
20:37On the shoulders!
20:39No!
20:40Hinare, Hinare!
20:42It's the streets, it's not the streets!
20:45Oh, my God!
20:51Oh, the streets for the champion or the challenger.
20:56Hammerhead butt.
21:00Shingo down, but again,
21:03Hinare dazed.
21:04And this is eerily similar to Dominion Walker.
21:07Absolutely, you're right about that.
21:11Hinare down, Shingo down.
21:15The champion begins to stir,
21:17but it is not by much.
21:20Hinare!
21:31No!
21:33Hinare calls for game over here tonight.
21:38Fisherman up, streets of no.
21:40Shingo.
21:45Whoa!
21:46Knee to knee.
21:48The angles right there for Hinare.
21:50And a rugby punt to boot and cover,
21:53and it's only one.
21:55Didn't get the conversion,
21:57but he's in position.
21:59Watch out, Shingo's going to turn into a rampage.
22:04Hinare, the rampage and the cover.
22:07No!
22:18Take it in.
22:22This is a clash of wills, a clash of spirits,
22:25a clash of desires.
22:27This is for the Never Openweight Championship,
22:29Hinare and Shingo Takagi.
22:37And it's Hinare, hooks the leg,
22:39had him up.
22:40Oh, Takagi fades down hard.
22:43Just enough to get out.
22:47I think that was the last little bit of energy
22:50the challenger possessed.
22:52Is this an overconfidence from Hinare right now,
22:55not staying directly on top of that attack?
22:58I mean, Shingo's trying to find that fire still, Chris,
23:01but it's just embers right now.
23:03There's no flame to go off of.
23:05Always cornered animals, very dangerous.
23:07Hinare knows that very well.
23:09But if he can lace those fingers,
23:12I think this is over.
23:14Takes the ultima fully fleshed in.
23:17Got to flex, there you go.
23:19There's all the weights he lifted
23:21in Animal Hamaguchi's gym.
23:30He's out, he's out.
23:32You've got to get Kensu in the middle there.
23:36He's out, he can't.
23:40Well, there you go, Hinare.
23:42Well, there you go, Hinare.
23:44It's like a broken TV set.
23:46I think he's just smacked some life into the dragon.
23:49But is it enough?
23:54Takagi, swiped away.
23:56Hinare, dragon suplex.
23:58Oh, no.
24:02Oftentimes, Walker, you'll see guys try
24:05as much as they can to carry themselves
24:08over onto their front,
24:10take away some of the impact.
24:12That was straight back again,
24:14a third time, right on the back of the skull.
24:16And again, right and left and right and left.
24:19Takagi, ducked under in that liver shot
24:22for Hinare, spinning hook kick.
24:24And a lariat.
24:26And a lariat.
24:32And yet, both men stay standing.
24:35Only because they're holding one another up.
24:37Oh, God. Oh, God.
24:39I hate this, Chris.
24:41Oh, Shinko hates it more.
24:43Hinare hates it more.
24:45Oh, Hinare headbutt shot.
24:48Northern lariat.
24:57And no matter who this crowd is pulling for here tonight,
25:01there is an admiration for both competitors
25:04for what they're willing to do to put their bodies on the line
25:07for the spirit of the Never Openweight title.
25:10For the spirit of a warrior, for the spirit of combat.
25:13This is professional wrestling at its most base, Walker Stewart.
25:19And now again, the double down.
25:22The count being applied.
25:27Three months to go in Osaka.
25:30We're running it back, folks.
25:32June 9th becomes September 29th.
25:37Not if these two can help it.
25:40Both men waving away the count.
25:42They're calling it off. We don't need that not once again.
25:50Hinare has Shinko's number here for the time.
25:58Oh, he caught it again.
26:00Just like Sapporo.
26:03Oh, it could have been.
26:07Shinko trying to reposition here.
26:14I want an E for Shinko.
26:17And a pumping bomber!
26:20No!
26:24Shinko Takagi's got to go to the depths of hell to find heaven.
26:29And Shinko Takagi might do it tonight.
26:31Pumping bomber, cover.
26:34No!
26:37It would have fell to Hinare five years ago, but not tonight.
26:43Not tonight, not with the responsibility of champion
26:46and thousands of years of his ancestry, but this is it.
26:50On the show, my God!
26:55And we have a new never open weight champion.
27:05I mean, there was everything and then some.
27:09On that last to the dragon, that was a scary, scary landing.
27:14And Shinko Takagi has just put down a scary, scary dude in Hinare.
27:20So once again, and for the fifth time, become never open weight champion
27:25and stand again, Walker, as the baddest MF in professional wrestling.
27:31The 46th never open weight champion here tonight in Kobe is crowned.
27:46Chris, I don't want to be the guy to dampen the mood,
27:48but I had to look directly over at Hinare's arms and fingers
27:51and make sure he was moving him well enough,
27:53because that was a hell of a landing that man took on last to the dragon.
27:57I mean, that was a hell of a landing that man took on last to the dragon.
28:00It may have been one other time.
28:08And it's been, I think the tally is gradually increasing
28:12with the number of times that the conditioning of Hinare
28:16and the hardness of that head, the stubbornness of that personality
28:21has saved his life as well as been his greatest enemy.
28:27Takagi Shingo will be crowned champion.
28:57Well, it's a sight that Kobe has seen multiple times over in his past.
29:11Shingo Takagi with a championship in the center of the ring.
29:20But for this moment for Hinare, it is going to be a telling one.
29:24Do you fall all the way back down the mountainside
29:26or do you climb back taller, stronger and better?
29:36These are the questions that rise and fall.
29:38And as Shingo Takagi has fallen in the past,
29:40he rises once again here tonight.
29:42Ascends to being five times ever open weight champion.
29:49As United Empire take one loss,
29:51we'll see if that has influence on our main event.
29:55I do want to make notice.
29:58Some news getting to me from backstage.
30:00Callum Newman has challenged Shoto Umino for a singles match at Royal Quest.
30:06Wow. October 20th.
30:10We'll see all those backstage comments and the drama coming out tomorrow.
30:14A huge match apparently on the books for London.
30:17But for right now, Shingo Takagi rules in Kobe.
30:25SINGLES MATCH
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